Sources for the Genealogy of Belorussian Jews

SOURCES FOR THE GENEALOGY OF BELORUSSIAN JEWS

by Alla K. Golubovich

Every nation has its own national fond (collection) of "historical memory."

The documents constituting this “historical memory” form eighteenth centuries which are the most important resource the history of Belarus from the fifteenth century to the early for studying different aspects of the history of Belarus during twentieth century. The National Historical Archives of Belarus the period of feudalism. was established on July 5, 1938 the town of Mogilev. The archive fonds contain original parchment manuscripts Subsequently, the Mogilev Historical Archives was reorganized from the fifteenth-seventeenth centuries, written in ancient into the Central State Archives of Belarus (CSAB), where all Belorussian, ancient Polish and Latin languages. archival materials of the Republic were stored. The archives Among the archival documents, one can find unique preserved the documents initially held by court institutions of sources of private origin. These include family fonds of the Great Principality of Lithuania, Rzeczpospolita of Poland (after princes Radzivill, Drutsky-Lubetsky, Lubomir, Paskevich- the merger of Belarus with the Russian empire) in the civil Erivansky, Counts Pliater-Ziberg, Rumiantsev-Zadunaysky courts, archival magistrates, town halls, regional courts, private and others. individuals, and also the Vilno Archives of Ancient Records In the last decade, people have grown more interested in and Vitebsk Archives of Ancient Records. their past, partly because of the uniting of family relationships After 1917, documents of the Historical© Archives Copyright were 2002 Routes to Roots Foundation, Inc. kept at the Central Archives of Belarus, the Vitebsk, Minsk and Mogilev Historical Archives and later in regional archives. From 1992 until June 1995, the archives were a part of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus. In accordance with the decision of the State Committee of Archives of the Republic of Belarus of June 12, 1995, the archives were reorganized as extracted the independent National Historical Archives of Belarus (NHAB). The Archives also moved to 55 Kropotkin Street in Minsk. At present, the archives stores 3,091 fonds, more than one million files, most of which are unique monuments of national culture created during the fifteenth-twentieth centuries. These fonds include documents about the political, social-economical and cultural life of the Belorussian people. The oldest of these documents are record books of court institutions from the fifteenth- ` Synagogue in Nowogrodek, pre–1939 (source: Polska Akademia Naun Instytut Sztuki)

1 BELARUS

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 on the origin, succession and kinship of clans and families — 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 is responding to this and other questions related to our past.

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 researching Belorussian genealogy, including the genealogy 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 of Belorussian Jews.

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 Accordingly, an effort is being made in the Archives under 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 the program "Our Genealogy," which calls for building a

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 nationwide database. Completion of this program will make 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 it possible for every citizen to obtain definitive genealogical

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 As for Jewish genealogy, we must note that the research is 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 mainly being done with documents from the nineteenth/

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 early twentieth centuries (up to 1917), from that period when 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 Belarus became a part of the Russian Empire as a result of the

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 three partitions of the Lithuanian-Polish union known as the 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 Rzeczpospolita [Republic] (in 1772, 1793, and 1795) and when

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 Russia's legislation began to extend onto its territory. 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 In that period, Belarus (within the borders of the present 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 state) consisted of five guberniyas: Vileika, Vitebsk, Grodno,

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 Minsk, and Mogilev. At the present time, then, genealogical 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 sources for these regions are to be found as follows: for Vileika

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 Guberniya, in the Lithuanian State Historical Archives; for 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 Grodno Guberniya, in the NHAB in Grodno; and for Vitebsk,

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 In the Rzeczpospolita, Jews had no specific class status; they 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 possessed autonomy. In the Russian Empire, however, at the

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 end of the eighteenth century, the government categorized 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 and standardized the estates. The Jews were accordingly

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 assigned (throughout the first half of the nineteenth century) 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 to the following estates: merchants, tradesmen, guild

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 assigned to them, since in the Rzeczpospolita the material

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 (inventories and the like) containing genealogical information 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 provided only the first name or also the father's first name

123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 123456789012345678901234567890121234567890123456789012345678901212345678901 (although, it must be noted that in [some of] the documents | List of Jewish Men in Lyakhovichi (Slutsk Uezd, Minsk Guberniya),© Copyright 1874 2002 Routes toof Roots the 1811Foundation, and 1816 Inc. censuses, Jews were still listed without | Benis Faivelovich Busel (born 1834), his son, Nevach-Benzion (born 1866); Benis' last names). | brother, Itsko (born 1850); and Itsko's sons, Yankel (born 1869) and Abram ` born 1872). Source: National Archives of Belarus in Minsk, Fond 330, Opis 1, File 111 The principal sources for researching the genealogy of Jews are as follows: 1. Birth records: rules for keeping them were established for the Jewish faith in 1835. Birth records of the Jews destroyed by the historical cataclysms of the twentieth century. were kept in two languages: Russian and Hebrew. The More and more people from neighboring and far countries entries were moreover set up alongside one another, turn to the archives for genealogical information. This with the Russian text on the left, on the back of the information is kept in the fonds of religious institutions, sheet, and the Hebrew on the right, on the front of the nobleman's deputy assemblies, treasury chambers, merchant's next sheet. administrations, statistical committees and family fonds. 2. Census records or revision lists (Reviskiy Skaskiy). The Genealogy-related requests submitted to the NHAB NHAB has material of the following censuses: the 5th (National Historical Archives of Belarus) are an eloquent (1795), the 6th (1811), the 7th (1816), the 8th (1833– illustration of the growing interest in the past. Today, everyone 1834), the 9th (1850) and the 10th (1857–1858). The is trying to learn: Who are we? Who are our ancestors, what census was not taken in Russia after 1858. That is why was their station in life, how did they live? Genealogy (in the supplemental census in 1870 and the census of Russian rodoslovije) — the systematic collection of information Jewish males in 1874 are the principal genealogical

2 BELARUS

sources for that period. The conduct of the reform in the early 1870s and implementation of the new statute and universal military service created new sources for genealogy in the period 1874–1917. 3. Family lists 4. Draft records. An additional genealogical source consists of passport records for foreign travel which include the following information: last name, father's first name, place of residence, age, estate, makeup of the family and a notation about the departure abroad. These foregoing materials represent only some of the sources for researching Jewish genealogy. In addition to these materials, documents in the repositories of city, trade or guild administrations, Jewish communities, city assemblies, administrations and guberniya governments are ` Gubernatorska Street in Minsk, c. 1915 (source: Miriam Weiner Archives) sources for researching Jewish genealogy. The volume of archival documents is so large that time must be budgeted in the fulfillment of research requests. It takes between one and three months to fulfill a request. Therefore, the NHAB are in the process of creating a database in order to speed up the Alla Kupriyanovna Golubovich graduated from the Belarussian National University with a degree in history. She is also a certified fulfillment of research requests. archivist. She has been an archivist for 26 years and in 1988, A beginning has already been made. The NHAB has concluded when genealogical research was permitted in Belarus, she joined a contract with the Routes to Roots Foundation,Inc. (RTRF), this department and continues in this area to the present. Her represented in the USA by its president, Miriam Weiner. The articles and research papers have been published in various noted agreement relates to the RTRF publication of the Consolidated magazines and scholarly journals, which were subsequently used in related television programs and films. Her husband is a professor Eastern European Archival Database to include a town-by-town of economics. Her daughter and son-in-law are practicing listing of documents from Belarus, Lithuania, Ukraine, Moldova psychiatrists. She is currently director of the National Historical and Poland. I look forward to our continuing cooperation. Archives of Belarus in Minsk.

` Synagogue in Minsk, c. 1920 (source: Miriam Weiner Archives)